The Nissan Path

Hello, I just picked up an 05 Pathfinder with 92k miles. After reading the reviews on Edmunds, I thought I should look into this some more. My carfax shows that the radiator was replaced at 54k and transmission replaced at 57k. Also had the timing chain/tensioner replaced at 46k. I'm glad I picked up this guy after all this was done and not on the other end of it, but the big question is how long do I have until they fail again? Are they usually ok after they are replaced with new parts or will they fail again soon and I should take precautions? TIA

The timing chain "should" be okay. Supposedly the changed the design of the secondary chains a little to not cut into the tensioner shoes as much and updated the shoes. In my case, whoever did the job before I bought the vehicle must have overtightened the primary chain tensioner bolts because one of them broke in the block and the primary chain started slapping around.

As far as the radiator, it all depends if they put in the update radiator or if you got one of the old, non-updated radiators. Look on the top tank and there should be a Calsonic label with the part number. If you have part number 21460-9CA0E, you know you have the updated radiator. If not, you may or may not have the updated radiator. There is no time or mileage as to when or if the radiator fails. I replaced my original radiator with 97000 miles on it for piece of mind, but it never failed. Currently the NHTSA is investigating the matter, so a recall "may" be in the future.

I wonder if the the radiator went out first, with the transmission cooler in the bottom leaking also. Then after 3k miles of driving with transmission fluid contaminated with engine coolant, the transmission needed a rebuild. It's odd that the transmission would need to be replaced that soon otherwise.

Yeah that is a good question deermjd. I do have the old part EA # and not the the CA#. The dates for replacement were Radiator=4/30/09 and the Trans on 7/20/09. Maybe by then they were using the new part %?. I should prob do the bypass just to be safe though.

I've heard they updated the radiator and still used the original P/N and later came out with the updated P/N. So, with the old P/N, you can't be sure if you have an old style taking out of old stock or an updated radiator. Since the NHTSA is finally investigating the radiator situation, it might not be a bad idea to do the bypass until they make a determination and hopefully a recall follows.